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Defy Media
Defy Media was a Media company founded in 1996 as Alloy Online, later merging with Break Media to become Defy Media. It was most widely known of owning Smosh. History Alloy, Inc. Alloy, Inc. (also known as Alloy Online) was founded in 1996 by James K. Johnson and Matthew Diamond as a holding company for Alloy, a teen-oriented magazine and website. By the time the company went public in May 1999, the website earned $15.5 million in monthly revenue and 1.3 million registered users. In January 2000, they purchased book publisher 17th Street Productions, renaming it Alloy Entertainment. Alloy's additional early assets included Delia's (acquired 2003, spun-off in 2005), CCS.com (acquired 2000, sold to Foot Locker in 2008), and Channel One News (acquired 2007, sold to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2014). Alloy Digital In 2009, Alloy created a division called Alloy Digital Networks to hold its online properties. Alloy was then made private because of purchase by Zelnick Media Capital in 2010, and it converted into Alloy Digital in 2011. In 2 years it bought Smosh, Themis Media, Generate LA-NY and Clevver Media. Zelnick later sold Alloy Entertainment to Warner Bros Ent. Defy Media On August 14th, 2013, Alloy Digital and Break Media merged to become Defy Media. The deal was brokered by RBC Capital Markets, and the resulting entity was owned in part by Zelnick Media, ABS Capital Partners, and Lionsgate. Viacom purchased a stake of Defy Media in 2014, in exchange for ownership of GameTrailers, Addicting Games, and Shockwave. In 2016, Defy settled a $70MM investment by Wellington Management Company, and Zelnick Media exited from investment in 2017. Decline and Bankruptcy In June 2018, multiple publishers have claimed that Defy did not pay them their advertising money. One of them, Topix, has filed a lawsuit for $300,000. In July, Defy sold The Escapist to Enthusiast Gaming, and sold ScreenJunkies to Fandom. On November 6th, 2018, Defy announced that they are shutting down and immediately firing all employees working for them. Smosh was rendered homeless after this event, but was picked up by Mythical Entertainment on February 22nd, 2019. Controversy Defy Media's former Head of Audience Development, Matthew "MatPat" Patrick, stated that the company stole $1.7 million dollars from him and other YouTubers. He claimed that the company was a Ponzi scheme and was using YouTube creators' money in order to look more attractive to outside investors. Content Defy Media owned and operated online brands including Smosh, Shut Up! Cartoons, Smosh Games, Clevver Media, Break.com, The Escapist, AddictingGames.com, Gurl, MadeMen, CagePotato, The Warp Zone and Chickipedia, with some brands being inherited from Break Media. Each of these brands operated a dedicated website and YouTube channel in or about comedy, filmed entertainment, news, video games, viral content, girl culture, men culture, or MMA. Defy Media's online program offerings included The Single Life, The Confession, Fashion on the Fly, Dating Rules, Chasing, Style Rules, Wendy, Style Setters, and The Sub. According to ComScore, Defy counted more than 38 million followers among its owned brands, reaching 221 million unique visitors each month. Together, its channels reached over 80 million video viewers monthly. Brands Defy Media owned various brands including viral video site Break.com, MadeMen (a website about how to be a man), flash game sites AddictingGames.com, Shockwave.com, DIY prop, cosplay channel Awe.Me, and Prank It FWD (Forward). Note: You may see content being copied from Wikipedia. If you are not satisfied with this decision, feel free to edit it into your own words.